When assessing remote sensing data, nighttime light data have shortcomings that can be attributed to sensor limitations and the influence of the natural environment. Signal leakage errors in nighttime light data were identified in this study. A regression model was created to reduce signal leakage error by selecting sampling points in coastal area. Lighting variations in Edogawa between 2008 and 2013 were compared based on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s nighttime light data. The lighting variation characteristics in Edogawa from 1992 to 2012 at 5-year intervals were also analyzed. The results show that the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in Japan led Edogawa’s light digital number values to peak in 2002. The annual Edogawa lighting changes from 2007 to 2013 were also explored. The 2008 global financial crisis led to the lowest compounded night light index and average digital number in Edogawa during these 7 years.

There is a popular belief that the lunar cycle influences spontaneous delivery in both humans and cattle. To assess this relationship, we investigated the synodic distribution of spontaneous deliveries in domestic Holstein cows. We used retrospective data from 428 spontaneous, full-term deliveries within a three-year period derived from the calving records of a private farm in Hokkaido, Japan. Spontaneous birth frequency increased uniformly from the new moon to the full moon phase and decreased until the waning crescent phase. There was a statistically significant peak between the waxing gibbous and full moon phases compared with those between the last quarter and the waning crescent. These changes were clearly observed in deliveries among multiparous cows, whereas they were not evident in deliveries among nulliparous cows. These data suggest the utility of dairy cows as models for bio-meteorological studies, and indicate that monitoring lunar phases may facilitate comprehensive understanding of parturition.

We consider some of the planetary conditions and global circumstances that both research and practice of media architecture are embedded within, such as climate change, pollution, resource consumption, and loss of biodiversity. While there has been a notable increase in emphasis on participation and engagement in design and use, with the aim to increase the involvement of diverse and often marginalised citizens, a human-centred approach to media architecture comes with its own set of problems. In this paper, we want to draw the attention of the media architecture community to the fallacy of human exceptionalism and anthropocentrism. We present a critical review of examples of media architecture projects and installations that question our understanding of urban space as separate from nature, and designed primarily for humans and just humans. Informed by studies in disciplines such as science and technology studies, critical geography, urban planning, and interaction design, we use insights derived from our review to discuss ways towards a more-than-human approach to media architecture. We conclude by proposing for discussion nascent design considerations for media architecture to go beyond the needs of just humans and to consider new ways to appreciate and cater for our broader ecological entanglements with plants, animals, and the environment at large.

Donkeys have been reported to be highly sensitive to environmental changes. Their 8900-8400-year-old evolution process made them interact with diverse environmental situations that were very distant from their harsh origins. These changing situations not only affect donkeys' short-term behavior but may also determine their long-term cognitive skills from birth. Thus, animal behavior becomes a useful tool to obtain past, present or predict information from the environmental situation of a particular area. We performed an operant conditioning test on 300 donkeys to assess their response type, mood, response intensity, and learning capabilities, while we simultaneously registered 14 categorical environmental factors. We quantified the effect power of such environmental factors on donkey behavior and cognition. We used principal component analysis (CATPCA) to reduce the number of factors affecting each behavioral variable and built categorical regression (CATREG) equations to model for the effects of potential factor combinations. Effect power ranged from 7.9% for the birth season on learning (p < 0.05) to 38.8% for birth moon phase on mood (p < 0.001). CATPCA suggests the percentage of variance explained by a four-dimension-model (comprising the dimensions of response type, mood, response intensity and learning capabilities), is 75.9%. CATREG suggests environmental predictors explain 28.8% of the variability of response type, 37.0% of mood, and 37.5% of response intensity, and learning capabilities.

The influence of light on mammalian physiology and behavior is due to the entrainment of circadian rhythms complemented with a direct modulation of light that would be unlikely an outcome of circadian system. In mammals, physiological and behavioral circadian rhythms are regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. This central control allows organisms to predict and anticipate environmental change, as well as to coordinate different rhythmic modalities within an individual. In adult mammals, direct retinal projections to the SCN are responsible for resetting and synchronizing physiological and behavioral rhythms to the light-dark (LD) cycle. Apart from its circadian effects, light also has direct effects on certain biological functions in such a way that the participation of the SCN would not be fundamental for this network. The objective of this review is to increase awareness, within the scientific community and commercial providers, of the fact that laboratory rodents can experience a number of adverse health and welfare outcomes attributed to commonly-used lighting conditions in animal facilities during routine husbandry and scientific procedures, widely considered as “environmentally friendly.” There is increasing evidence that exposure to dim light at night, as well as chronic constant darkness, challenges mammalian physiology and behavior resulting in disrupted circadian rhythms, neural death, a depressive-behavioral phenotype, cognitive impairment, and the deregulation of metabolic, physiological, and synaptic plasticity in both the short and long terms. The normal development and good health of laboratory rodents requires cyclical light entrainment, adapted to the solar cycle of day and night, with null light at night and safe illuminating qualities during the day. We therefore recommend increased awareness of the limited information available with regards to lighting conditions, and therefore that lighting protocols must be taken into consideration when designing experiments and duly highlighted in scientific papers. This practice will help to ensure the welfare of laboratory animals and increase the likelihood of producing reliable and reproducible results.